Monday, October 31, 2011

Happ Halloween. Now it is Halloween so when I was looking for a machinima for Machinima Monday I wanted it to be obviously themed. This was when I decided to go with one that is older, but is also one of my favourites because it made reference to a lot of the other machinima's of the day. it comes from the series known as Snacky's Journal and if you have never watched the series I would say it is worth your time to watch and get a few laughs. The story to it is pretty simple a Murloc participates in a pumkin carving contest, and if that isn't enough to get you interested then I don't know what else I could say. So without making you wait any longer here it is.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

It is Sunday once again. The day where we have to try and forget that it is the end of the weekend and things will soon become serious. With that in mind today is Ask Gauss. You know the day of the week were I go through all the questions and pick a few to answer. If you are unsure on how to ask a question or you just love for me to repeat myself each week it is actually very simple. There is a link on the top right of the page, which you can just click on or if clicking on random links is not your thing you can send an email to gaussafication@gmail.com. As always even if your question does not appear here on Ask Gauss I still will answer it, most of the time in a timely manner. So with that let's get to the good stuff

Pandaren racials. Any thoughts?

For those who don't know. The Pandaren racials are pretty simple. They take less fall damage, their profession buff is to cooking, they get double the buffs from food buffs, and they have this pressure point thing that can make enemies fall asleep. I really think no one has problems with any of the racials, but there are a lot of questions about the food buff change. Is this going to make all classes able in top end guilds be pandarens? It is an interesting question and we will have to see how blizzard balances it. We saw this a lot when they buffed the troll racial and all top end mages race changed. I think Blizzars might have learned from that experience though. If they can make the buff be as close to the others as possible then I think it will be fine. The problem will be that basic stat food buffs may become more attractive to Pandarens instead of Secondary stat buffs, and I really don't have an issue with that at all. Makes the game more interesting.

So I know you like Machinima and all that, but do you ever look at the fan art and if so are you ever going to share some of those on your blog?

I actually have never been asked this before, and the truth is I love the community fan art as well as the Blizzard art Gallery. I check them every update and more often than not I will download them onto my computer and cycle them through desktop backgrounds. Here is one I saw recently that I think is beyond epic created by someone named Darklogik

Really you are ok with pet battles?

Yes, probably because I didn't cry for days when I lost all my Pokemon cards when I was 8 like someone...

There you have it. This week's edition of Ask Gauss. Hope you all got something out of it. For next week's Reader Post we are going to do something different. I want you to submit fan art either that you have created or that you have seen. Could be any type, but as always make sure you submit them by Thursday night. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Friday, October 28, 2011

It is Friday and wow that week went by so fast didn't it? Well it did for me at least. Last week at this time we were all getting pumped up and excited for Blizzcon. All ready for anticipation for what was going to be revealed to us. That was why on Sunday I wanted to know what all of you were most excited for with everything which was revealed to us. So without waiting any longer here is what some of you said.

I am one of those weird people that are looking forward to the pet battles. When you are sitting around doing nothing this will be something that will pass the time. Not to mention the fact that you can name them and give them something directly related to your character for RP purposes.

Account wide achievements without question. You see I am an altaholic and some months I play one character and then the next patch I will play another. So my achievements are wide spread, but overall I would probably be close to the 10k level if they were all combined. So when you look at one toon which has 3k it makes me look like a noob compared to someone with 7k, which is very far from the truth.

Instance Challenges finally a balanced way to compete on the server a way for us to see who is actually better at something when gear is not an issue. I remember when you talked about them doing this for Arenas how it would help with it being a true test of skill, which is why I am surprised they didn't put something to do with them as well. I really like the idea of a leader board though, and I really hope they will eventually add this concept to raids in the future.

Pandas! Could it be anything else? Well it could be the monk class! Two things I have been waiting for them to put in the game since it started. I am also extremely happy they did not go the hero class route because I feel completely that it would destroy peoples opinion of the class itself.

No flying till make level. While they are at it they should take flying out all together. I think it takes away a lot from the game. I understand the convenience thing, but flying to me just takes away a lot from the experience of the game. I makes it so you are less involved in everything. Since that will never happen though I can settle with the fact that they are at least taking it out until level 90.

There you have it. Thanks to everyone who submitted something it is as always very much appreciated. Without your submissions there would be no Reader Post. If you are interested in participating in next week's post look for the topic during Sunday's Ask Gauss topic. Until then have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

So I have never seen such uproar about something so simple that is being added to the game that people threaten to quit or go berserk over something being added to a game. Now there I times when things are being taken out or changed that has made players quite angry. Things like this although I probably didn't agree with them I understand why they may be upset. But adding a feature? Seriously?

For those who don't know what pet battles is. Blizzard is basically adding a combat feature where your non combat pets can battle. Basically Pokemon inside of WoW. There thinking is this is just something else for people to do rather than just standing around. Pokemon something I am not interested in mainly because when that came around I was already pasted those thins. Other WoW players and a lot of them I would think grew up during the craze. Regardless I am not interested in this type of system doesn't mean I will not try it and will not just mess around with it. I probably wouldn't ever take it too seriously, but it does make your non combat pets you have been collecting for years have a purpose. Now this being my opinion here is the argument against them.

Developer time has to be allocated to be spent on different things that people in different interests have been asking for. You can't stretch Dev time to buy three things for the price of one. They chose one thing, and the two other things that people have been asking for have been put off for an unknowable amount of time.

People are upset because the pet battle system is a feature that, frankly, people see as an activity that does not fit in with the scheme of WoW, and feel that the developer time could have been spent on other features that does more for the immersion and assistance for pre existing features in the game such as, for example, guild/player housing or the dance studio.

The issue that people have is that it's such a side niche of interest appeal that it really is something that stands far apart from the other features of the game and could ultimately wind up serving a very small audience that does not justify the amount of developer time that was invested in it compared to other features that could have been.

Now this does sound like a pretty good argument. Lets agree that the dance studio and pet battles are basically on the same level. I think people can agree to that. In regards to guild or player housing I don't see Blizzard adding this ever because it removes people from the community. They don't like how at the moment people are running around cities doing nothing, but waiting for raids and queues. Mists of Pandaria is bringing people out into the world again. So why would they put in a feature that keeps people away form everyone else? They wouldn't.

Now back to the dance studio vs pet battles. The dance studio although they have probably worked on it in some regard would require a lot of work to implement. With that in mind back when Mountain Dew made the WoW red/blue game fuel you could get those in game tank pets that could battle each other. With that in mind, if they already had a basic structure for this pet battle system in place, it may not take as much developer time as many seem to think it would. So they can add a brand new system with minimal coding on their part, and something that will help players pass the time. When you look at it, that is all it is a mini game to help players pass the time. It is not a way that they are slowly changing the demographic of WoW like all the crazy people think.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

So all the talk about the new expansion is about things they didn't add because they added something else. That topic I will deal with tomorrow, but today I want to talk about two things they are adding that are by far and away what I am most excited for.

End Game Questing

This isn't dailies, this isn't just quests you do when you are max level. These are zones and quests designed to be part of the story and are to be completed only by max level characters. These quests themselves will have progression to them. They will award Valor Points and gear, although less ilvl than raids they will award the same ilvl as dungeons and LFR. So besides sitting around in the capitals you now will be out in the world questing quests that are not just a joke, but ones suited for the single player. Now some have complained they are adding single player elements to an MMO, but to those people just because it is a massively multiplayer doesn't mean you actually have to be playing with everyone. This is something that can progress Lore and Story and lead you to raids and dungeons in a much more flowish way. Was by far my favourite thing they were adding with the new expansion until I heard about...

PvE Scenarios

For years I have been complaining that there are so many places in the world that are forgotten about once you are done questing there. The only other people to ever see these zones are the ones who will level. No longer is this the case. Yes these will be instanced, but you will be going to the everyday places in Azeroth. All the towns, all the zones, everything. Remember the epicness of Southshore vs Tauren Mill? Well they can bring this to us in an instanced form. Meaning no lag, meaning combat which is organized but random, and the best part is no tanks or healers will be required. It doesn't mean those classes cannot participate, but they will not be needed for anyone to participate.

Now after playing a game for years you realize there is only so may ways to create fights that have tanks and healers. Once you remove them from being needed by putting in mechanics which can be used for other things. These Scenarios are going to do this. Imagine if this moves on to raids. Where a healer, tank, or dps is just as important to the sucess of the encounter. You bring what you have to accomplish the tasks. Each one would offer a specific benefit, but each one is not particularly needed over the other. Everyone thinks back to old days of WoW and there is a phase of an encounter that screams this system. Phase 1 in the Razorgore encounter. You couldn't heal, you didn't have to tank some adds but you could, there was kitting from the dps, there was CC, mind controlling, and an orb that was required to use to kill eggs. Now because of phase 2 you needed tanks and healers, but imagine an encounter that didn't. Now I like this a lot it brings variety to everything, and a whole new element to the game as a hole.

So those are the two things I am most excited about with the coming in Mists of Pandaria. There is more that I like, but you will just have to wait and see what I have to say about that.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tuesday, meaning Fail Day is here. The day of the week where we see how much you or anyone you know fails. All in good fun of course. I wouldn't purposely make people feel horrible about themselves now would I? When looking for a topic for today I figured Blizzcon was this past weekend and the expansion was announced so why not. So here we go

You Fail At Knowing Anything About The New Expansion If...

You did not know it was called Mists of Pandaria

The first words to come to your mind were "Pandas really?"

You were not aware Pokemon has invaded Azeroth

You are an Alliance player and have not been shedding tears for Theramore

You are still complaining they are not adding Account wide achievements

You think there is a big baddie

You think it is unfair that the Horde/Alliance got the panderen and the Alliance/Horde didn't

You cannot believe they are adding another hero class to the game

You think End Game questing is stupid

You have no idea how scenarios are any better than instances

You think them letting us fly on mounts while leveling will ruin the experience

You think the dungeon challenges will be stupid because those who outgear them will always have the best times

You still think they should have overhauled the talent system

You think rogues and warriors should just be able to throw there weapons instead of having range weapons they never use.

and finally

You have no idea who Chen Stormstout is

There you have it, this week's edition of fail. Hope you all got a kick out of it. Now a quote from our favourite Brewmaster to end it

"Ah perhaps it needs some refinement. Afterall we must learn to crawl before we run"

Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday, wow it seems like just yesterday it was Sunday... Ok that was an awful joke, but it was a great way to open. Monday means it is Machinima Monday the post of the week where we showcase a Machinima to all of you for the viewing pleasure. Now there really wasn't an option to pick, which I would actually show. After all this past weekend was Blizzcon and they have a Machinima contest. Also the person who won is one of my favourite Machinimators, Melvenor. For awhile now he had been talking about remaking the Warcraft II entrance Cinematic into a modern Machinima, and let's just say he did it and did it amazingly. So much so that he won the Machinima contest. So if you haven't seen it time to transport yourself back in time

Hope you enjoyed the trip back in time. Good Luck on your last day before reset!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunday it is here, and damn that came so quickly. Seems like the weekend just started, regardless though it is Sunday, and that means Ask Gauss. Let me just say on that point, WOW I have never had so many questions sent to me the past few days. Now I know this has everything to do with Blizzcon, but still it was pretty overwhelming. I will get to them all I promise you that, but I also just want to say I will do at least one post this week about the Mists of Pandaria reveals so don't think I am ignoring all those. So with that out of the way, time to get to the questions.

WoW annual pass. How do you feel about this?

I actually think this is a great idea. For years other games have been offering rewards for those deciding to to subscribe for extended periods of time. Also they are taking Blizzard's most popular franchise and letting those people expierence their least popular. Now not saying that Diablo is bad it is awesome, but what better way to get people interested in a game then just giving it to them. There of course is the people that play WoW and play Diablo so let's take this into account. The annual pass costs $150. Diablo III will cost $60(same price as Starcraft II) and Blizzard sells mounts for $25 in the pet store. Also this totally ignores the fact that Tyrael is the most amazing character in the Diablo Universe. This means basically with that value you are getting a year of WoW for $65 a value that when you think about it is pretty insane. So I feel it is actually a great deal and something Blizzard should have done a long time ago.

So Blizzcon is over. What was your favourite part?

I thought the opening ceremonies were probably the best of any of the Blizzcon's they showcased all of their games and did it in a way which was epic in every sense of the word. The Heart of the Swarm Trailer I would argue is probably the best trailer Blizzard has ever made, but that just might have to do with it solely being about Kerrigan. I also thought Red Shirt Guy being first in line at the Lore Q&A was pretty awesome and how Metzen came right down and gave the guy a hug. There was the dance contest winner 3rd place who stole the mic from Jay like he was supposed to give a speech screaming out to his guild and no one answered, purely epic. But I have to say the best moment was girl who won the Costume Contest. That was by far the greatest costume ever in the history of Blizzcon and her winning was just perfect for Blizzard rewarding for the work done.

So MoP? What you like what you think?

In a small amount of words I like, but I will go into much more detail about this and why later in the week.

There you have it. Ask Gauss is done for the week. Hope you all got something out of it. Again thank you for all the questions and I will answer them all as quickly as I possibly can. For those waiting for it next week's Reader Post is going to be about what you like the most about he Mists of Pandaria reveal. As always you have until Thursday night to get those in. Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone!

Friday, October 21, 2011

So today is the big day, today is the day that we get to experience Blizzcon. That was why this was such an easy choice to be the topic of the Reader Post for this week. What are you excited for to see at Blizzcon 2011? That really is all the intro that is needed let's get to it.

I am looking forward to them finally saying that Mists Of Pandaria is going to be the next expansion. They have been ducking around the topic for months now and it really is the time the perfect time to just give it to us and admit it. I know this will be the expansion I just am excited to know what comes with it.

I want to see if they are going to keep leaving everything separate or finally bring all there games together. Yes I know we have battle net, but that is not what I mean. I mean a way that they recognize that yes some of us play one game but a lot of us love Blizzard games and we play them all. It is about time they realize this and give the community their gaming community something as a prize or reward for supporting everything that they do.

Frankly, I cannot wait till the contest. They are always the most exciting part of the whole event and something everyone looks back on the entire year. Yes there will be many things revealed especially about WoW, but the contests are why everyone loves Bizzcon and why they have an insane following.

Some WoW love. This Blizzcon will determine if I will or will not buy the next expansion. They need to impress me and show me that the game is not going to be the same old same old. They need to make the game seem fresh and new. If they do this I will be right there wanting to be part of anything and everything once again. I love the warcraft universe, but playing the same thing for years does get old.

I just want to hear everything new and exciting that is coming to all of us. Diablo III looks amazing so does Heart of the Swarm, and I am sure the new WoW expansion whatever it is will be the same. The hype for this event is amazing, I cannot help to geek out this much.

So there you have it. Some of the nations thoughts about Blizzcon and what they are pumped up to experience. As always thank you to everyone who sent something in even if I didn't post it. I read them all. If you are interested in next week's post check out Sunday's Ask Gauss post for the topic. Until then enjoy your weekend and enjoy Blizzcon.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

So with Blizzcon coming up tomorrow and reading Rades post on Orcish Army Knife today about the legendary daggers being just daggers it made me think of something Blizzard could add with the new expansion without making it a game changer.

For years people have been talking about how pigeon holed you are in WoW. That you are stuck wielding a certain weapon because of a certain spec. The legendary daggers as I understand are going to make it so no matter what spec you are and the fact that you are daggers it will not matter. So the thought then comes out, what is in a weapon? For years the WoW community asked for the ability to customize their characters and Blizzard is finally giving us Transmogrification so why not bring this to the next step. So what is the other way people could customize their characters? Well simple they could pick their weapon setup which made them truly them. So if they can do it with Daggers where it doesn't matter what your spec is, why not do it with everything. Maybe a mage who is wielding a sword and a tome, would switch to a staff and a sword. Now nothing would change but the look, and why is this a bad thing? This would speak to the originally of every player in the game. The possibilities would be endless and you wouldn't see anyone and everyone looking the same. Players would come up with weapon setups that are one of a kind and it would be encouraged. Blizzard has showed us with Tramsogrification that it can be done with armor and with the legendary daggers that the weapon itself doesn't matter so why not bring it all together and promote the creativity of the Community.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The masks that used to have to be gotten only from trick or treating every hour can now be purchased for tricky treats. Now this changes completely how outrageously difficult and random the Mask for all Occasions achievement was. Now I am all for keeping achievements hard and difficult in fact I was one of the supporters for Blizzard changing the "The Exalted" achievement every expansion so that it actually meant something. So logically many of you would think I would be against Blizzard changing this achievement, but you would be wrong.

If there is nothing I hate more it is achievements or anything else in WoW related to RNG. This is why TBC DPS was up and down so much, because of procs and RNG. They fixed that and DPS for all classes is a lot less RNG based compared to how it used to be. Achievements that require you to have luck and click a button every hour for 2+ weeks are not hard they are stupid. I have no problem with achievements that cannot be done in 1 year. I actually think those achievements are great actually. You want achievements that are difficult, take time and effort, or both. Never in there do you want an achievement that is also random or luck based.

So to all the people that have this achievement I can say grats to you, but I also would think you would thank the RNG gods for helping you get it. Changing the achievement to be bought with treats makes people participate in the holiday and its events. Rather than making sure you are online every hour. This is truly what every holiday achievement should be like.

So in case you haven't noticed I still hate RNG with a passion and will continue to do so to I slay their gods.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tuesday, meaning Fail Day. Everyone's favourite day isn't it. Today though is a special kind of Fail Day because it has to do with something that only comes around once every year. Kind of like how other days only come around once a year, but just this is that much more important. Now some might be disappointed that I am not again doing a Lore Fail, and I will probably go on with that next week, but like I said this is a special week. The week of Blizzcon. So time to get to it.

You Fail At Preparing For Blizzcon If...

You are just now trying to buy a ticket

You have a ticket, but forgot to book a hotel

Your first question is which not Blizzard games are going to have a booth

You decide to wear a red shirt so people mistake you for red shirt guy

You spent all year looking for lore errors within the game so you can stand up to Metzen so you can have an NPC in game

You made a youtube video asking what you should wear to Blizzcon

You have a pen and paper to right down the jokes the Jay Mohr gives so you can use them with your "friends"

You do not have a camera ready to catch a moment that will be talked about for years to come

You have been practicing your sound alike voice for the entire year and all you got is a murloc

You are the guy that broke his leg last year

You don't think they will be announcing the next WoW Expansion

You some how don't know the Foo Fighters are preforming

and finally

You keep trying to trick the system to give you a free Virtual Ticket because your mom wouldn't give you her credit card

There you have it this week's edition of fail. To keep with a tradition let's give a Blizzcon quote

"You can't kill him, that is an undead male. That poor guy. Who wants to follow the broken leg?"

Good luck on this reset. That last you will do before knowing what next expansion is all about.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Monday! You know that depressing day that comes after the weekend? Yes that would be today. It is my job though to make you feel better and that is why we have Machinima Monday! The day of the week where we showcase a machinima to make your day better. This week I decided to go with one which will kind of make us think of this week's Blizzcon, and most importantly it will make you laugh, especially the end. So without making you wait any longer here it is Kung Fu Pandaren.

Hope you enjoyed it. Good luck this last day before reset and of course get ready for Blizzcon!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Sunday is here if you didn't know, and let's make it a point to not realize that tomorrow is Monday and the weekend will be over. I know I probably just made it impossible for you to do that, but hey that's your problem not mine. To get on topic it is Sunday and that means here in Gauss land that it is time for Ask Gauss. The post of the week where I just pick some questions I have been asked throughout the week and throw out the answers for all of you to read. And by throw I mean type out, I don't really have magically powers and If I did throwing words would probably be the most boring power of all time. Anyways, if you don't know how to send in your questions there is a link on the top right of the page or you can email them directly to gaussafication@gmail.com. With all of that out of the way let's get to it.

Don't you think even if the exchange rate of the pets to gold isn't very high it will give the top rank guilds in the world a slight advantage?

I don't really understand why players think massive amounts of gold in WoW are an advantage. The millions in WoW are not the players in the top guilds. They are the players that have developed strategies for gold making and are applying them all the time. Some of these people spend all their time on WoW making gold. It is because this is the fun part of the game to them. I can tell you I could have a completely ridiculous more amount of gold than I do If I spent more time then just a short daily ritual on AH, and I already have more gold then I will ever need and ever use.

You see having enough gold in WoW is the important thing. The amount that will get you enchants, gems, flasks, pots, craftables, and of course repairs. Anything beyond this is practically useless besides getting vanity items. Yes they are a lot of fun to have and all, but they actually serve no real purpose in the conquest of the game. Meaning top ranked world guilds could care very little on this so called advantage you think there will be. The only people who will use these pets are the ones who think they can make a quick turnover and the other people who will try to use them will fail horribly.

What you looking forward to most about Blizzcon?

I am actually looking forward to practically everything content wise for all of the Blizzard games. I know there is going to be a reveal about the next WoW expansion. Is it going to be MoP as everyone thinks it is going to? What will be the changes that will be put in place? How will it effect and improve the game? There is also going to be a lot of info about Starcrafts Heart of the Swarm expansion and not to mention a lot of information about this game called Diablo III that is coming out in the new year. Overall lots going on and I cannot wait to see it all.

Think Mr Undead Break A Leg will return for a repeat?

He better that was the greatest moment of any Blizzcon to date!

There you have it everyone. Hope you got some useful information. Thanks to everyone who sent in a question this wouldn't be possible if I didn't get any of them. For those waiting for it, next week's Reader Post I want to know what you are looking forward to most about Blizzcon. As always you have until Thursday night to get them in. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Damn it is Friday already! Guess that is what happens when it is a short week because of a long weekend. The next weekend comes like nothing. Not that I am complaining I love the weekend! Friday though means it is time for me to let all of you take over and say your piece about the topic at hand. This week I asked you all to send in your responses to the direction of Blizzard's Art teams direction of Tier 13. So let's get to it shall we?

Speaking on behalf of the Priest Tier. Great job done by Blizzard! It is an amazing design and I can't think of anyway to make it better! Genius idea for ‘Venetian carnival style with creepy, soulless black eyes,’ every priest tier seems to be better than the last and the whole idea that the new fad of going backwards won't be done too often if they keep up this style with Priests.

I feel as though Blizzard is potentially running out of ideas. They seem to be using *similarly* looking gear as new gear. Example, season what-ever-the-hell-we-are-on compared to last season or using NPC looks for gear eg warrior-deathwing. Shaman-thrall. Although, I'm not saying these are bad things.

I hope they continue to do these sorts of preview. Explaining their methodology and aim with each tier set makes it a lot easier to see where they were going with the theme and get us to say "Oh yeah, I see what they were going for" instead of "Dude, WTF is that?!"

I feel transmogrification has changed the way the art is done. Now, I think they are more "free" of going with really great concepts because they do not have to please the majority anymore, you can just get a old tier you like and hide what you hate. I also feel, by taking theses risks, the players who will like it will like it more.

Before this Tier I didn't think they could make a Pally Set more awful looking. Then they did the Tier 13 preview for them, and then I said I don't think pally tier could look any worse then this, and then I saw that helm on a female model. I hold my head in shame, but you probably don't care because I play a Pally anyway.

I never considered that the transmogrification development would have such a wonderful impact on the way the sets are designed. The only times it feels they were totally free to do whatever they willed with the art direction of this game was TBC and more recently the elemental plane zones and instances, and those are easily my favorite sections of gameplay. While I disagree with a few parts of this particular sets this coming tier, I don't think anyone can claim that every set this tier doesn't look striking and memorable.

I don't get why so many people are complaining about the Mage Tier. It's called Time-Lords Regalia. The cogwheels actually fit it pretty well. Just look at the inside of any analog clock. The goggles I haven't quite figured those out yet, but if I had to guess the idea behind it it would be that they are used to see through time. Overall I think Blizz did a pretty good job with the design matching the name.

And there you have it that is it for this week's Reader Post. As always thank you to everyone who submitted something and if yours didn't get posted doesn't mean I didn't read it. If you would like to participate in next week's Post look for the topic during Sunday's Ask Gauss Post. Until then have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Well I have been thinking for days if I was going to post this and if I did how I was going to work the post. For all who haven't guessed this post is going to be concerning this

Now how can such a little vanity pet be causing so many problems throughout the community. Well the answer to this is pretty simple. Blizzard is selling this in the pet store, which is no big deal right. In fact I have the moonkin hatchling pet from the pet store, because it was going to a good cause and I think it was actually a pet worth having.

So if that isn't it then what is it? Well the difference is while all other pets from the pet store are BoA and are given to each and every character on your account. This pet is going to be a one time use. So first off instead of $10 going to a pet which can be used on each and every one of your characters this can only be used on one. The other issue is this pet is not BoA it is BoE. Meaning this pet can be given to others who didn't buy it or this pet can be sold for in game gold.

That is where the freak out happens. This basically means Blizzard is allowing their legal form of gold selling. Now before I give my argument on this let me show you the blue posts on the issue.

TCG Loot card mounts like the Spectral Tiger have been BoE for a long time now (since patch 3.2), and that was and continues to be well-received, and as far as we've been able to tell hasn't had any adverse impact to the game or economy - despite them selling for sometimes astronomical amounts of gold.

It’s potentially worth noting that no new gold is being introduced into the game's economy with those mounts or the new Guardian Cub pet.

Our goal with the Guardian Cub is to provide alternative ways for players who don't want to spend real money to add these pets to their collection. Even though this has been available a while now with the TCG mounts, this is obviously a new kind of way to deliver Pet Store pets, and we're definitely interested to hear your feedback and ultimately see how this will play out

So Blizzard is basically saying they are completely ok with it if people do this. Now let me explain why I believe they are.

Supply and demand this is not going to be a simple and easy way to make gold, because these pets will have an infinite supply. Meaning you aren't going to be able to get value for your money in gold respects. Simple economics states the more supply the lower the cost, but the pets have a set dollar value, and the gold conversion won't be close to sufficient in order for this to be viable. Sure many will try, but many more will fail.

The gold used to by any of these is gold that is already in the system. For gold bought from 3rd parties gold is generally duplicated because it comes from a hacked account and will not be traceable. So when such and such a players gold gets restored Blizzard has to create that gold again to add to the system. This then creates inflation. This is not happening when people are selling these pets meaning gold will not decrease in overall value.

This will do exactly what Blizzard wants and give those without the ability to spend real world cash on pets the chance to spend their WoW wealth on them, and to me this is a great idea as long as 1 and 2 exist, and I don't think they ever won't

So now everyone take a few deep breaths and put down the Blizzard employee voodoo dolls, everything is going to be ok.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I understand this is a few days old, but since I made a topic about it being off, I only felt it right to make another when Blizzard corrected it. First off let me show you a complete before and after curiosity of MMO Champion.

As you can see her eyes have been changed to Golden as they should be. Her skin is a lot lighter and her hair is the platinum colour again as was described to us. Only thing I am not sure of is if her height is actually taller than the average elf. Since I have not been on the PTR nor play a Night Elf I cannot make this determination.

Now there has been many sides to why Blizzard did this. Some have been saying that it was the authors error when it was written in the War of the Ancients Trilogy. I don't by this for a second because Blizzard has always done a great job of making sure the details in the novels are what they should be.

The other theory is that models on the PTR are always a work in progress, and sometimes to get the content out for testing Blizzard puts in placeholder models or models that don't have all the fine details on them for when it goes live.

I actually believe this to be the case, because it has happened in the past quite a few times. For all those saying that no this is just Blizzard caving I am going to remind you all of Lore Marrowgar and his model journey on the PTR.

Model 1

﻿

Model 2

Model 3

﻿As you can see he went through a lot of changes before his final product. One which was probably a placeholder and then some touch ups and recolourings. So am I happier with the new Queen Azshara model? Yes I am much happier than I was when it was first revealed, but who knows it still may have some other changes that will be added to it soon enough.﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Happy Fail Day everyone. I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend even if you were not privileged enough to get one. We will be continuing the Lore fails once again, but when deciding who to choose I thought I would pick someone that we will in all likelyhood get well acquainted with in the near future. I also thought that not many actually know anything about her. So without further introduction let's see how much you know or how little you do about the Night Elf Queen.

You Fail At Queen Azshara Lore If...

You did not know that she is the former Queen of the Night Elves

You didn't know she is now the leader of the Naga

You did not know that she has golden eyes a rare occurrence in Night Elven society

You were not aware that she used her beauty as a magical charm to hide her power

You didn't know that Lady Vashj was her Hand maiden

You were not aware that she feels threatened by Tyrande, because she feels her beauty rivaled her own

You were not aware that she made the decision to try and open the portal for Sargeras

You didn't know she has a minor role in the Darkshore questline

You did not know she wished to be the consort of Sargeras thinking he was the only one powerful enough to be capable

You were not aware that the naga although still refer to her as their Queen she is as revered as a God

You were not aware she admired Illidan for the "gift" Sargeras gave to his eyes

You did not know before her Naga transformation she had power that rivaled Archimonde and Kil'jaeden

You didn't know she wants nothing more than the destruction of Neptulon

and finally

You didn't know she survived the Great Sundering by making a pack with what is believed to be the Old Gods

There you have it this week's edition of failure. How bad did you fail? As is the custom her is one of my favourite Azshara quotes

Monday, October 10, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Yes it is my turkey day the day. Where I get to sit and give thanks to everything around me by stuffing my face till I cannot eat one more bite. Being Monday though, it is also time for Machinima Monday. The day of the week where I showcase a machinima for all of you to see and view with outright delight. So when thinking of which to choose I decided to go with one I viewed recently known as "The Hour of Twilight". This takes the title from what we all know as Deathwing's Future for Azeroth. Now this machinima is done as a trailer for that particular moment. If you don't know I am quite a fan of trailer type machinimas. The one done during BC called "World's End" is one of my favourite of all time. The reason I like this type of Machinima though is they always take specific quotes from within the game and put them into place. This is no different in this particular machinima. Now the Animations in this Machinma are not the best, but the way are put together with the quotes is done so well that I know you will watch this several times. So on Thanksgiving let's give thanks by all that has gone on in Cata to bring us to this point.

Hope you enjoyed it. Good luck on this holiday edition of your last day before reset.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Wow it is Sunday already. Hard to believe my long weekend only has one more day left to it. Just means I only have 2 more days where it is ok to stuff my face, and no one will look at me weird. Now isn't this really the best part of Thanksgiving, screw the thank yous and all that other crap. It is the food dammit! So before I keep going on and on and get my largest amount of hate mail in a single day. Being Sunday you should know it is time for Ask Gauss. And it is time to answer the Reader's questions of the week. So without more constant babble let's get to it.

Do you feel having Azshara as a 5 man boss this expansion will hurt her being the big baddie come MoP?

First off although I think she will be the "big baddie" of the next expansion it has not yet been announced if that is the case. So really this is all speculation. Now with her being a boss in a 5 man remember that this is 10,000+ years in the past and although I am not too happy with her actually being a boss the whole timeline thing will be intact. At the time of the War of the Ancients Azshara was known to be more powerful then even Mannoroth and Archimonde looked to her as an equal. Now this is before her Naga transformation something which granted her even more power. So if we are to encounter her in the next expansion it will be on a level that is not even close to what she was back then. Think of it as battling Thrall before he became a shaman. Now I am confident Blizzard is using this to introduce the player base to a character that not many know about, and even though she isn't make it seem like she isn't just made up on the spot and out of thin air.

So Tier 13 models are out besides DKs but who cares. Which do you like the best?

Now most would probably expect me to say warrior, but I am not going to. It is not that the warrior set doesn't look great because I think it does. It is a set I think many will look back on and think it is one of the best designed warrior sets. The thing is though I think all of them are beaten by this

The shaman set is probably the best set looks wise Blizzard has ever made, and I am very confident in saying that, and jealous that it is a shaman set a set I will never have the ability to use. Overall though I don't think there is a bad looking t13, well I won't include the pally set because frankly no one cares about them and their sets. Most were thinking that the sets would begin to look horrible because of the ability to transmog them, but it seems they have gone in the complete opposite direction a lot of people thought they would.

Why is there no Panda's in Hour of Twilight?

ummm...really?

So there we have it. This week's questions are done and answered. Hope you all got some information out of it. As for next week's Reader Post I want to know about your thoughts on the tier 13 art designs and your opinion of the direction Blizzard is going with the tier sets. As always you have until Thursday night to get them in. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Friday! The last day before the long weekend begins. Well a long weekend in Canada at least. This is our Thanksgiving weekend. So yes it is my turkey day! Well Monday is at least. Anyways, Friday means it is time for a Reader Post. The post of the week where you all submit responses based on the topic I gave you. This week I wanted to know what you all thought about Nozdormu being in End Time, the new 5 man instance. So let`s see what you all had to say.

Him appearing as Murozond, the leader of the Infinite, the flight that we know are meddling with the timeline "for the sake of the greater good". What I think is rather interesting is the bronze flight always sent us back to ensure that time was kept the same,but this is the first time that the players actually assist in changing the timeline, rather than preventing it. Nozdormu seemingly makes light of those actions, saying that he'll handle everything. I just think this is the foreshadow of his demise.

Its weird, the Titans showed Nozdormu his death so that he wouldn't have the hubris to think he was invincible...and he just changed the future, therefore changing his end. Weird concept or intended result?

I really had a very interesting idea. What if the newest patch is the story of not one Aspect's fall, but two? And not a cheap plot device, but a cunning act by Blizzard to tie all the ends together? Nozdormu had always known he'd go mad and die this way, no matter what choices he'd make. What wasn't clear was that it was us who assisted him all the way, both in committing the crime and taking the punishment. Just a thought I've had. Maybe I'm wrong, but looked at from this perspective, I think this patch keeps looking better and better.

It's pretty much been accepted at this point that Murozond is Nozdormu, but I'm stumped as to how this is possible give that it's been stated multiple times that Noz exists outside of time and while you will find multiple versions of a normal person in different time lines, there is and always has been only one Nozdormu across all timelines.

What if what the players witness and assist in doing is actually the very crime against the Timelord's own nature, the point in time where he learns to abuse his power, where the idea of fixing everything comes from, and that's what shatters the Aspect's mind? We know Nozdormu knows his own future, but is powerless to change it. What if, faced with the Deathwing threat, he chooses to betray his own nature and accepts his fate to give Azeroth a fighting chance? And the trip to the "End Time" is not only to show the adventurers the consequences of not stopping Deathwing, but to strengthen his own resolve before the crime he has yet to commit, accepting what it will make him, as well as the death at the hands of beings he deems worthy? To get rid of any regrets before sacrificing his own essence, for the sake of everything else, before he loses what makes him himself, his role as the Aspect? Before he takes the step that he knows and had always known will plunge him into madness?

I suspect that the Dragon Soul being brought into the present from the Well of Eternity may have something to do with Nozdormu's corruption. The Dragon Soul itself was instrumental in the Old God's corruption of Neltharion. Perhaps the contact Nozdormu will have with the artifact as he returns it to its original timeline will be enough to get the corruption rolling. I think it's an interesting idea that would bring even more things full circle in the upcoming patch.

Death by mortal hands. It sort of makes sense that he would not be able to prevent it in any way, and the easiest explanation of how all the timelines can lead to this one unavoidable result. Details will vary, but the end result "a mad dragon, slain in combat" is the same. If there were too many details, or if other details were too important, it would potentially make the fate avertable. Even the "mortal hands" bit may be debatable, but still unable to be averted. Even at the End Time, when there is no life left, his past self brings his prophetized end to him. I think this is that kind of mind blown moment everyone expects with time travel.

And there you have it. I just want to say there was countless submissions to this topic and I would have loved to include them all it just was not possible. I want to thank everyone who submitted something as it is always very much appreciated. This post itself would not be possible without all of you contributing to it. So if you would like to participate in next week's topic be sure to check out the topic during Sunday's Ask Gauss post. With nothing else left to say, enjoy your weekend everyone!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

I have been asked many times what has made WoW stand out from all the other MMOs out there. The answer itself to me is not a difficult one. Warcraft's lore and story is what keeps people playing this game. Sure there is side things to do, but those who are interested in those come and go. Think about it for a second you may not read the novels or pay attention to quests, but say when a guildie starts talking and explaining what we are really doing and what you are dealing with you listen.

In WoW there are these things and those times we always remember. It could be a questline that you love doing because of the story. Many have told me that the Thrall and Aggra Elemental Bonds questline is one of those quests. They felt like they contributed to the lore of the game themselves they feel like they are directly part of the story. Other games don't have quests like this where you are developing in the story itself. You are very disconnected you are there are told to go kill these things, collect those things, and then come back to me. Yes WoW still has some of these quests, but even the way they are done is much different than even classic WoW.

This is the point when you are involved you remember. The only way you are going to remember a quest where you are told to go kill something or collect something is if it was so rare it took forever, the quest itself was bugged, or was hard. You aren't going to remember to them because of Dave and his epic quest giving skills. This is Blizzard's theory they want you to remember quests, raids, and everything else because of the story involved in everything. Think about it when you remember you can talk with others about it, and if they haven't done it they will want to. It is marketing at its best word of mouth. Of course, this can backfire in the same way, but Blizzard has seemed to avoid this for the most part.

So if I had any advice for new MMOs or even to Blizzard in WoW it is simple. Make sure that you use the story of what you are involved in to ensure that the player remembers playing it and it was a fun and enjoyable experience.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

First off I want to say there may be some things within this post that some would consider SPOILERS. So if you are scared of that sort of thing don't read it and complain.

With that out of the way we can now get to it. So with 4.3 coming we know that Murzond is killed and is revealed to be a future version on Nozdormu. Upon killing him Nozdormu says this to you

"At last it has come to pass. The moment of my demise. The loop is closed. My future self will cause no more harm from this day on. Still, in the future, I will... fall to madness. And you, heroes... will vanquish me. The cycle will repeat. So it goes. What matters is that Azeroth did not fall; that humanity survived to live another day. All that matters... is this moment."

Now this would appear that this is the moment that Aman'thul showed Nozdormu or is it? When you kill Murozond or are killing him he says this

"You know not what you have done. Aman'Thul... What I... have... seen..."

Now this could mean this isn't the moment that Nozdormu witnessed that would be his demise. Or is this Murozond warning of us of the future and what the Titan's themselves have done are doing or will do to the world? Very interesting indeed. One thing I want to point out that this isn't the real demise of our Nozdormu is what found out in Twilight of the Aspects. This slight summary is taken from wowpedia.

After the battle Nozdormu took the time to explain that in one of the future timeways, he becomes the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight. Stunned, the three other Aspect listened as Nozdormu explained why he was late to the final battle: He was following another thread of information. He discovered who was behind the vast and dreadful conspiracy: The Old Gods. Nozdormu confirmed that they caused all of the horrible events against the Dragonflights and Azeroth.

Now note there it is "one" of the future timeways.. Also the fact that Nozdormu had to find out about the old gods being the corrupter is confusing because hiss curse is to know what is going to happen at all moments and not able to stop it. We also learned in Twilight of the Aspects that some how the Old Gods were able to get into the time ways and bring someone from one timeway into another just as we saw Thrall was able to travel in a completely different timeway, and most importantly we learned that there is one true timeway.

So my theory is that Murozond is a Nozdormu from another timeway which was corrupted by the Old Gods, and this explains how he was in a "future" timeway because in this timeway Deathwing actually won. Just like in Twilight of the Aspects Thrall was in a Timeway where he didn't survive and the world was completely different.

The Old Gods must know what is about to happen in the true timeway and want to stop it from happening they know we are going for the Dragon Soul and used their agent Murozond who controls timeways to try and stop it from happening. This would explain how Nozdormu had no knowledge of his corruption until he "found" it.

Of course I could be completely wrong and Nozdormu could just become the "new Deathwing" during the Deathwing fight. This being where the Old Gods latch themselves on to them. We will jsut have to wait and see. I just have a feeling that Blizzard would not let their most prized and interesting dragon Aspect simply get brushed off without adding an epic tale to it all.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fail Day! Oh yes it is that time again. As you could probably tell from the title we are going to continue with the Lore character fails. It will not be Horde or Alliance today as many people have sugested I do characters who are netural in natural and many may not know much of anything about. A real test of people's failures I am told. So I went with someone who everyone knows who he is but probably knows next to nothing about. So here we go!

You Fail At Nozdormu Lore If...

You didn't know he was the Aspect of Time known as the Timeless One

You were not aware that he was the only aspect empowered by Aman'thul the high father of the Pantheon

You did not know it is a rare occurrence for him to be seen as he is always off protecting time

You didn't know Aman'thul showed him his death so he could be taught a lesson to never think he was all powerful to escape it

You did not know his eyes our hour glasses themselves

You were not aware he is the one that sent Rhonin, Broxigar, and Krasus back in time to the War of the Ancients

You were not aware he has a lisp because he is still in each and every moment

You didn't know he was the one that blessed Nordrassil with the enchantment, which in turn gave the night elves immortality

You didn't know he has a "Lair" where he places things he has collected throughout the time ways

You didn't know he is said to be the most powerful yet humble being on Azeroth. Someone who could stop something before it happens, but yet never does

You were not aware that he and his flight cared for saved blue eggs during the War of the Ancients

You did not know Thrall was the one that found him lost in the time ways, the reason why he was absent for so long

You didn't know that in the one time lime where Nozdormu saw that he was the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight he believed it was due to the Old Gods

and finally

You still don't know that Murozond is in fact the future version of Nozdormu who will eventually go mad and try to interfere with the past.

There you have it this week's edition of fail. As always here is the quote one of my favourites and the most talked about for years

“I know what you hide from her, from usss. It is my fate and curssse to know such things and be unable myssself to prevent them. Know that I now asssk for forgiveness for the wrongs I will caussse you in the future, but I mussst be what I am destined to be... as Malygos is.”

Monday, October 3, 2011

Its just another Machinima Monday! Ok that was awful, but admit you laughed because it was awful. To get on topic you should know it is Monday and that means it is Machinima Monday. So when I was thinking about which Machinima I would feature I couldn't think of any other but this one. You all know I love WoW Crendors videos since all of the times I feature them. What you probably don't know is I am also a fan of Epic Meal Time. They are a bunch of crazy Canadians from Montreal who make the craziest meals you probably have ever seen. So when I saw that WoW Crendor did a parody of Epic Meal Time WoW style well I knew this was going to be awesome. So if you don't know what Epic Meal Time is you may not get some of the jokes, but I think regardless it will make you laugh. So sit back and enjoy otherwise Hooves Glasses is going to kick your ass.

KUNGALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH. Good luck on your last day before reset.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Yay for Sunday. The day you wake up and excited for the day even if you are hungover and are drinking so much coffee you can't think straight. Anyways, let's get back on track. Sunday means Ask Gauss in Gaussland so thats what we will be doing. You know the psot of the week where I get to answer some question which have been driving you insane. Someone may ask, "Gauss how can I send in a question?" I would follow that up with, "where the hell have you been all this time?" then laugh and say top right of the page or just email them to gaussafication@gmail.com. I know so very difficult, maybe one day I will write a instructions in 30 different languages. So with all of that out of the way let's get to the questions.

What do you think of Blizzard applying there LFR boss loot strategy to the game as a whole?

For those who don't know. In the new looking for raid system Blizzard is letting you participate as many times as you wish, but with the exception that you can only be eligible for loot from a boss once. Meaning if you have already killed a boss in the raid you will automatically pass if you are in for that boss kill again.

So after that explanation I think this is a wonderful idea. Some people would love to do raids more than once per week and don't care about the gear. They just want the experience, and this is the best way to do it. Also there is the case where you may have been in a horrible pug and can't do any of an instance because you have that one boss kill that counteracts all the ones you haven't been able to do. Also think about guilds that could do multiple runs with just a few changes so that those not able to make it on said day or there were too many people on they can now not get locked out of guild raiding for the week. So if you cannot tell I would be all for would be one of the best things for Blizzard to incorporate into raiding.

So it could be that Nozdormu's end will be in a 5 man, isn't this a slap in the face?

Well we don't know the whole story yet, but I really doubt his end will be in a 5 man. I know they are dealing with the infinite dragonflight in a 5 man, but when you think about it all the infinite story lines have been in a 5 man or a quest. I think in this regard they are being fair, but I really doubt arguably the most powerful dragon in all of Azeroth is killed in a 5 man. I think the infinite storyline is perfectly fine to take care of in a 5 man, but Nozdormu's story itself is very far from done. I will do some specific post about this later in the week, but I am absolutely sure this is far from over.

Don't you think it is stupid to have Alexstrasza as a mount reward?

Well for years 90% of the WoW community has been wanting Alexstrasza to mount them. So I think this is Blizzard's way of throwing them a bone...

There you have it. That is it for this week's edition of Ask Gauss. As always thank you to everyone who sent in questions even if I didn't get to them here I always respond to them regardless. For those waiting for it, next week's Reader Post I want to know what you think of Nozdormu's presence in the new 5 man End Time as always you have until Thursday night to get them in. Enjoy what's left of your weekend.